Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full. — Psalm 17:15 

Mass Readings: 2 Maccabees 7:1,20-31 / Luke 19:11-28 

The Minimalist Christian 

In today’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable of the king giving his servants gold coins before he heads out on a journey. One doubles the money. Another increases it by 50 percent. And a third thinks the king should be happy he didn’t lose any of the royal funds. In a sense, the last one is like the Christian who follows the Ten Commandments to the letter of the law but never goes beyond that. (“I’m doing great. I didn’t kill anybody.”) 

We’ve all known people like that. The ones who get by doing the bare minimum of what’s required at work or on a parish committee or in a family. Jesus is asking for more. He’s telling us to use our “gold coins” — our talents — in service to others. We don’t risk losing what we’re using; in fact, we’ll be given even more! 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me better help others by generously using the talents You’ve given me.